U.S. lawmaker tells NASA to plan for trip to Alpha Centauri by 100th anniversary of moon landing

[Spaceception]

Holy Crap

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/05/us-lawmaker-orders-nasa-plan-trip-alpha-centauri-100th-anniversary-moon-landing

Edited May 24, 2016 by Spaceception

[KAL 9000]

Waaaaaat?

[Kerbart]

There's a difference between ordering and sneaking in a sentence that says "we should really try to launch one of those 50 years from now"

Especially when the value of the NASA budget for the far future (i.e. one year from now) is worth less than the paper it's printed on.

[kerbiloid]

They called him Buck Rogers.

[RenegadeRad]

I think they did not "order" probably made an agreement or questioned them. You know, budget cuts. This is a clickbait

3 minutes ago, RenegadeRad said:

I think they did not "order" probably made an agreement or questioned them. You know, budget cuts. This is a clickbait

Wait I take my words back. Buy still, cover the goddamn solar system before rushing towards stars! 

[Atlas2342]

Well, it did say "...encourages NASA..." in the article...

[RenegadeRad]

Just now, Atlas2342 said:

Well, it did say "...encourages NASA..." in the article...

People also encourage me to be happy with my life  

[insert_name]

lets see to get to alpha centauri traveling at .1c it would take 44 years. to get there by 2069 we would have to launch in 9 years from now. So we would have 9 years to develop, certify and build an interstellar probe based on hypothetical designs. not too sure about that.

[Kerbart]

26 minutes ago, insert_name said:

lets see to get to alpha centauri traveling at .1c it would take 44 years. to get there by 2069 we would have to launch in 9 years from now. So we would have 9 years to develop, certify and build an interstellar probe based on hypothetical designs. not too sure about that.

Where does it say to get there by 2069? All I found was this:

These efforts shall be centered on enabling such a mission to Alpha Centauri, which can be launched by the one-hundredth anniversary, 2069, of the Apollo 11 moon landing

But that's launching, not arriving there in 2069.

[insert_name]

Just now, Kerbart said:

Where does it say to get there by 2069? All I found was this:

These efforts shall be centered on enabling such a mission to Alpha Centauri, which can be launched by the one-hundredth anniversary, 2069, of the Apollo 11 moon landing

But that's launching, not arriving there in 2069.

oh i misread the article, whoops

[PB666]

NASA im ordering you to gonto andromeda this instance, or you wont get any dessert. 

Did it work? 

If we launch at andromeda now, we might just get there about the time our two galacies collide. 

Alpha centauri is much easier, instead of taking 1000000s of millions of years, it will only take 10000s of years.  

[RenegadeRad]

19 minutes ago, PB666 said:

NASA im ordering you to gonto andromeda this instance, or you wont get any dessert. 

Did it work? 

If we launch at andromeda now, we might just get there about the time our two galacies collide. 

Alpha centauri is much easier, instead of taking 1000000s of millions of years, it will only take 10000s of years.  

What I'm still questioning here is why the heck aren't we concentrating in manned missions rather than these drones. I have a fear that soon our robot overlords will only go for space expedition.

[Robotengineer]

1 hour ago, kerbiloid said:

They called him Buck Rogers (R-TX).

Let me fix that for you.

[Duski]

NASA'd be like,

"Well seems like we might have to go with Project Orion."

"But not even that could get to Alpha Centauri in time!"

Well then we just have to obey the first rule of rocket science... MOAR BOOSTERS! And even if it fails and we are plunged into a nuclear apocalypse, Bethesda will have an idea for the next Fallout."

 

Edited May 26, 2016 by Duski

[Streetwind]

To be honest, if we send an interstellar probe, I'd rather see it go to a star system with confirmed exoplanets. Alpha Centauri has no such things. Only two potential candidates, which have proven to be so elusive as to make the chance that they actually exist fairly low at this point.

Unfortunately, the closest confirmed exoplanet we know of today is Aegir (Epsilon Eridani b), and that's 2.5 times as far away as Alpha Centauri...

[KAL 9000]

33 minutes ago, Streetwind said:

To be honest, if we send an interstellar probe, I'd rather see it go to a star system with confirmed exoplanets. Alpha Centauri has no such things. Only two potential candidates, which have proven to be so elusive as to make the chance that they actually exist fairly low at this point.

Unfortunately, the closest confirmed exoplanet we know of today is Aegir (Epsilon Eridani b), and that's 2.5 times as far away as Alpha Centauri...

Yep. But Alpha Centauri Bc is still a possibility, unlike Bb.

[Spaceception]

9 hours ago, RenegadeRad said:

Wait I take my words back. Buy still, cover the goddamn solar system before rushing towards stars! 

If we had spacecraft capable of traveling a even .01 c, we could send orbiters, landers, and probes on all corners of the solar system within a few years.

[p1t1o]

The filmstars tell us how to vote.

Supermodels tell us "I'm an actor".

The politicians tell us how to eat.

I've got medical professionals asking me "What treatment do you want?"

Scientists say everything but no-one listens.

Some nobody spouts BS pseudoscience and everyone listens.

And now a lawyer thinks he can do space.

 

I think that there is a fundamental problem with humans. Its like when someone comes along who actually does their job its some kinda weird curiosity like "Oooh, cool hobby!"

[RenegadeRad]

2 hours ago, p1t1o said:

The filmstars tell us how to vote.

Supermodels tell us "I'm an actor".

The politicians tell us how to eat.

I've got medical professionals asking me "What treatment do you want?"

Scientists say everything but no-one listens.

Some nobody spouts BS pseudoscience and everyone listens.

And now a lawyer thinks he can do space.

 

I think that there is a fundamental problem with humans. Its like when someone comes along who actually does their job its some kinda weird curiosity like "Oooh, cool hobby!"

Agreed. Give this man a cookie

 

[Emperor of the Titan Squid]

what does it mean? humans or probes?

[Spaceception]

10 minutes ago, Emperor of the Titan Squid said:

what does it mean? humans or probes?

Probes, I find it highly unlikely that NASA could send humans to another star entirely in less than 100 years.

[Bill Phil]

2 hours ago, Spaceception said:

Probes, I find it highly unlikely that NASA could send humans to another star entirely in less than 100 years.

If we fully devoted ourselves to the goal, as a species, then we could do it, but there'd be a lot of challenges. If we use Orion, we could get a ship to 10% of the speed of light, and with decades of development, mag sail braking could become viable. It wouldn't be easy, and would take up all of our resources. But it is doable. Albeit enormously difficult.  

[ProtoJeb21]

23 hours ago, Spaceception said:

Holy Crap

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/05/us-lawmaker-orders-nasa-plan-trip-alpha-centauri-100th-anniversary-moon-landing

About TIME a politician is taking interstellar travel seriously! Although 2069 is a little too long of a wait. I think the late 2040's or Early 2050's would be good for an interstellar trip. We will have the technology then, and we would've adapted to the Maunder Minimum that starts in 2030.

[radonek]

Politicians ordering space achievements at anniversaries again?  I thought that politburo proved long time ago it does not work like that. Oh well…
 

[PB666]

11 hours ago, ProtoJeb21 said:

About TIME a politician is taking interstellar travel seriously! Although 2069 is a little too long of a wait. I think the late 2040's or Early 2050's would be good for an interstellar trip. We will have the technology then, and we would've adapted to the Maunder Minimum that starts in 2030.

Im in no great hurry to get space junk to alpha-centauri, I would like to see the technology capable of getting things around the solar system faster and fusion reactors that can work in space. Then we can talk about how humans can survive in space colonies. There is a marginal point of sending a postage stamp to alpha-centauri that is unlikely of reporting back anything other than two stars in orbit around one another.